January 2016

A nice selection of images from January.

Common Buzzard on the shore.

 Collared Dove looking forward to spring.

 Cormorant drying it's wings.

 Grey Heron posing.

 Great Northern Diver with a crab.

 Goldcrest - stunning.

 Goosander in a flap.

 Iceland Gull at the hatchery.

 Jackdaw eyeing things up.

 This Knot was a good find in January.

 Little Auks were storm driven but soon moved back out to sea.

 Merlin is usually seen flying off so this sitter was a bit special.

 Plenty of Otter sightings...

 ...and a few cubs around too.

 A few flocks of Redwing are fairly easy to find this winter.

 The sun lights up the landscape as it sets - that's when you see the sun!

 A White-tailed Eagle on a dull day.

 This White-tailed Eagle landed next to the car - fantastic!

2015

A steady start to the year with a bit of birding from the garden. White-tailed Eagle was the highlight but it was distant while in the garden there were plenty of Goldfinch...

...and a few Blackbirds too.

It was a bit dull today but as I was sent on an errand I took the birding equipment with me too. A cracking Golden Eagle was seen hunting by the road.

It's not too often that you see them perched on a post but it does happen...

...and if you are going to get yourself noticed you will get some unwanted attention!

No sign of the WF geese today but there was a 200 strong flock of Barnacle Geese.

Plenty of Rock Doves on show...

...plus lots of Rooks and a few Jackdaws.

I had driven past these Common Seals in the morning but I gave them a closer look on my way back.

Purple patch

A spare couple of hours saw us head out for a bit of relaxing and, of course, some birding. Purple Sandpiper is a superb bird to watch clinging onto the rocks where the sea meets the land. With the tide in they do a bit of foraging around the rock pools.

Back inland to Killingworth Lake for more waterbirds...plenty of Coot...

...Jackdaws picking at the scraps...

...and a couple of Magpies playing in the park.

Pochard is a duck that is not that easy to find these days but there always a few on the lake.

Tufted Duck - well named.

The Moorhens are used to people wandering past so it's a good opportunity to get a close up shot.

There were a couple of Little Grebe resting beside the ducks...

...and a bit of a flap for good measure.

These bird are well fed so it was funny to see this one desperate to get a tasty morsel off the ground. The bird was ringed on 27th November 2013 as a juvenile - I doubt it will stray far.

Corncrake.

A trip over to Iona with Doc to have a look for Corncrakes was quite productive. The day started off with rain but it was supposed to get clearer as the day went on. In cool and breezy conditions there was not a Corncrake to be heard! Things did improve but there were a few distractions along the way...Sedge Warbler ...

...Pied Wagtail...

...and some cracking views of Corncrake!

Other delights were some splendid Jackdaws...

...and plenty of tourist Corncrake - Song Thrush.

We spent a fair bit of time trying to track the Corncrake through the grass...

...watching them disappear into clumps of grass...

...and hiding in the brambles.

You could see them watching you...

...but they were showy too.

They may have stood in the open...

...but when they were face on they were surprisingly hard to pick up.

But how do you find the elusive Corncrake?

Just wait for them to start shouting!

A couple of Starling families were housed in the walls and not fussed by the passing humans.

A trip out to Staffa with Davy Kirkpatrick was well worth it. A couple of year ticks on the way there - Manx Shearwater and Purple Sandpiper plus a few Twite, Black Guillemot, Puffin...

...and a superb Great Skua.